1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an image printer.
2. Description of the Related Art
As an image printer for exposing a film image on to a photosensitive material, there is well-known an image printer having a projection exposure unit for projecting and exposing the film image on to the photosensitive material and a developing unit for developing the photosensitive material exposed at the projection exposure unit.
This type of image printer further includes transport means for transporting the photosensitive material through an exposing position of the projection exposure unit to the developing unit. In operation, the photosensitive material, as being transported by this transport means, undergoes a series of processes from the exposure process of the film image to the developing process.
According to the above-described conventional construction, however, the image printer has only one projection exposure unit and also only one transport means for transporting the photosensitive material through the projection exposure unit. Hence, for increasing the film exposure processing capacity, it has been necessary for a user to purchase a plurality of units of the image printers of the same kind. Therefore, a large space has been needed for installation of the printers.
The present invention attends to the above-described problem. And, a primary object of the present invention is to improve the film-image exposure processing capacity of the image printer while restricting increase of its installment space.